Guerra, soccer player injured in wreck, to visit UE

EVANSVILLE - Abby Guerra, the former University of Evansville soccer player who was initially identified as deceased after a 2010 wreck in Arizona, is scheduled to return to the UE campus next week.

She plans to be in the crowd when her former team plays its last home match on Oct. 27.

It will mark the first time Guerra has returned to Evansville since the end of her freshman year. Guerra was seriously injured in the wreck, which occurred as she and friends were returning to her home in Arizona from Disneyland on July 18, 2010.

The wreck, which occurred when a rear tire on their vehicle blew out and the vehicle overturned, killed two people in the vehicle, and for a while Guerra was misidentified as one of the deceased.

One of Guerra's former teammates, junior Chaviel Harrison, said while the squad will be glad to have Guerra cheering them on, her return visit is important for Guerra to reunite with people she met her freshman year from outside of the team. Harrison said the team has seen Guerra twice since the accident, once in Arizona after the wreck and again in Omaha, Neb., during last year's Missouri Valley Conference tournament.

"Even though she doesn't want to bring that much attention to it — she's just not that kind of person — she's excited to come back and see the people she hasn't seen in so long," Harrison said. "It gives the people here the opportunity to see her, too."

In her only season as a member of the Purple Aces, Guerra scored two goals and had three assists as a starter

On Tuesday, Orange Leaf Frozen Yogurt, on Evansville's East Side, held a fundraiser to help cover Guerra's travel expenses. The store, which has been open since June, donated $1 from every sale with a coupon that could be printed from the university's athletics website. Allison Oberle, the store's general manager, said $217 was raised.

Harrison, who is a member of the school's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, said she approached Oberle about the fundraiser because of Orange Leaf's popularity among college students.

That money, Harrison said, will go toward the cost of Guerra's mother's plane ticket, who will accompany her daughter to Evansville. An anonymous donor previously pledged to pay for Guerra's ticket if she ever chose to return to campus, and the athletic department is arranging the pair's hotel accommodations.

Guerra originally planned to visit this weekend, but those plans fell through. Lizzie Barlow, UE's assistant sports information director, confirmed Tuesday that Guerra is scheduled to be at the game against Missouri State at 7 p.m. Oct. 27, which also is senior night.

Barlow said nothing specific has been planned for Guerra's return yet, but there will be some sort of recognition for her.